The Spartan Club, comprised of Case Institute of Technology (CIT), Western Reserve University (WRU) and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) alumni, parents of current students, faculty and staff, and friends of the University, is aimed at helping foster and honor the proud tradition of athletics at the University, while also supporting the current student-athletes. For more information on the Spartan Club, and to help support its purpose by becoming a member, CLICK HERE.
Case Western Reserve University junior Jacob Slater, a member of the men's cross country team, and senior Kalli Wall, an outside hitter on the volleyball team, have been named the Spartan Club Athletes of the Week for their performances this past week.
Slater earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship field after finishing third at the 2025 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championship in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. Slater was the first Spartan to cross the finish line in the men's 8K race, earning All-Region honors for the second-straight year by placing third out of 272 total finishers with a time of 24:56.8. He has been the team's top finisher in all five races he has competed in this season. Slater's finish helped the Spartans place sixth out of 37 teams at the meet.
The 2025 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships will be held in Spartanburg, South Carolina, at the Roger Milliken Center on Saturday, November 22. The men's 8K race is scheduled for a 10 a.m. start, followed by the women's 6K race at 11 a.m.
Wall finished her career as a Spartan by guiding the team to a fifth place finish at the 2025 UAA Championship last weekend. Wall led CWRU with 46 kills (3.83 per set) and a .342 attacking percentage across three matches as the team went 2-1, including an upset over 13th-ranked Emory in the final match of the year. In a five-set loss to Carnegie Mellon in the UAA Quarterfinal on Saturday, she had 17 kills, six digs, and a block. Wall followed with a 13-kill performance in a sweep of Rochester later in the day, digging four attacks and adding a pair of blocks. In her final collegiate match, Wall hit .577, making just one error in 26 attacks and putting down 16 kills in a four-set victory over the Eagles, the team's first since 1992. She finished the season with 431 kills (3.59 per set) and a .264 hitting percentage, adding 116 digs and 68 total blocks for 469.0 points.
The CWRU volleyball team ended the 2025 season with a record of 17-14, its third consecutive winning season.
The Spartan Club Athletes of the Week are selected by the CWRU Department of Athletics each Monday, based on their performance during the previous week of competition.
Honorable Mentions:
Sophomore defensive specialist Sophia Datto (volleyball) was the Spartans' top defensive player at the 2025 University Athletic Association Championship last weekend at the Gosman Athletic Center in Waltham, Massachusetts, helping the team place fifth in the league. Datto finished the weekend with a team-high 52 digs, averaging 4.33 per set across three matches. In the team's five-set loss to Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, she had 21 digs, her 14th match with at least 20 digs during the 2025 season. Later in the day during a sweep of Rochester, Datto had 16 digs and a kill. In a four-set upset of 13th-ranked Emory, Datto had 15 digs and 19 receptions on serves, adding three assists to help the Spartans defeat the Eagles for the first time since 1992. This season, she totaled 553 digs (4.61 per set) and finished the campaign 28 shy of becoming the 22nd Spartan to reach the 1,000-dig milestone.
Senior Aidan Gassel (wrestling) clinched the Spartans' upset win over 23rd-ranked Adrian on Saturday at the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center in Adrian, Michigan. With CWRU leading 21-10 and just two bouts left, Gassel secured an easy victory for the visitors with an 11-0 major decision over Shan Swank at 197 pounds. The win was the fifth of the season for Gassel, who improved to 5-2 during the 2025-26 campaign. With the win in its opening dual, Case Western Reserve improved to 1-0 this season.
The Spartans will make the short trip to Berea, Ohio, for the Baldwin Wallace Invitational on Saturday, November 22 with action slated to begin at 10 a.m.
Senior Art Martinez (wrestling) picked up five points in the Spartans' upset win over 23rd-ranked Adrian on Saturday at the Merillat Sport and Fitness Center in Adrian, Michigan. In the second bout of the match, Martinez gave CWRU a 5-4 lead with a technical fall in 6:04 over Jager Corliss at 133 pounds. He won by a score of 19-4. The Spartans would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the match, winning their first dual of the season by a score of 25-13 to improve to 1-0. Martinez picked up his seventh win of the campaign, improving to 7-1 with three technical falls.
Senior guard/forward Emily Plachta (women's basketball) helped to lead the Spartans to a 65-58 win over Adrian College during the team's home-opener on Saturday night. Plachta narrowly missed out on a double-double, finishing the game with 16 points and nine rebounds, while adding an assist and matching her career-high with four blocks. She played 30 minutes and shot six-of-14 from the floor, including four-of-nine from three-point range. Through three games this season, Plachta is averaging a team-high 19.7 points with 6.7 rebounds. The Spartans have opened the season with a 3-0 record.
The Spartans will be on the road in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, November 19, against Capital University. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
First-year Izzy Probst (women's soccer) scored a pair of goals during the sixth-ranked Spartans 5-0 win in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship on Saturday night at DiSanto Field in Cleveland. Probst scored in the 32nd and 45th minutes, tallying the team's third and fourth goals of the game for the first multi-goal game of her career. She finished the season with seven goals and a team-high eight assists for 22 points, receiving UAA Rookie of the Year honors earlier in the week.
CWRU, eliminated in a penalty kick shootout in the second round of the postseason after a 1-1 tie, ended the season with a record of 14-2-4. The Spartans reached the second round of the tournament for the fifth consecutive season and appeared in the playoffs for the sixth year in a row.
Sophomore wide receiver Will Stack (football) led the Spartans on Saturday with a career-high eight receptions for 65 yards during the team's 43-16 loss to Geneva College in the team's season finale. Stack caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:53 left in the first quarter that evened the score at 7-7. Stack finished his sophomore campaign with 29 catches for 373 yards and three touchdowns.
The Spartans closed out the 2025 season with a 4-5-1 overall record.
Senior defensive lineman Joseph Swarm (football) closed out his 2025 season with another strong performance in the Spartans' 43-16 loss to Geneva College on Saturday. Swarm finished the game with six tackles (four solo), including one sack and 1.5 total tackles for loss. He completed the 2025 season with 46 tackles (25 solo), including 11 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks, all career highs.
First-year Francesca Taracila (women's cross country) was the top-finishing Spartan runner and claimed All-Region honors at the 2025 NCAA Great Lakes Region Championship in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday. Taracila recorded a career-best time of 22:28.8 to place ninth out of 260 finishers in the women's 6K race. She earned a spot in the NCAA Championship next weekend by virtue of finishing among the top-seven individuals in the region not part of a nationally-qualifying team. This was the second time this season that she had been the team's top runner. The Spartans placed sixth out of 37 teams at Saturday's meet.
First-year forward Alex Vincent (men's basketball) led the Spartans to two wins in three games last week. Vincent averaged team highs with 13.3 points and 8.0 rebounds, while adding five assists and a block. He finished the week shooting 72.0% (18-for-25) from the floor and made four-of-seven free throw attempts (57.1%). In a 71-68 win at Penn State Behrend on Tuesday night, Vincent led all CWRU players with 24 points (shooting 11-for-15 from the floor) with nine rebounds. He followed that with a career-high five assists with two points, six rebounds, and a block against Waynesburg, making his only shot attempt from the floor during the contest in an 89-61 win. Vincent wrapped up the week with 14 points and nine rebounds in his first-career start, an 82-72 loss to Mount Union, shooting six-of-nine in the game. Vincent leads all Spartan players this season with 12.0 points while adding 6.3 rebounds per game. CWRU has opened its season with a 3-1 overall record.
The Spartans will head to Washington, Pennsylvania, this weekend for the 2025 Great Lakes Invitational, hosted by Washington & Jefferson College. CWRU will face the host school in its first game of the tournament on Friday, November 21, at 7:30 p.m.
2025-26 Spartan Club Athletes of the Week:
Sept. 2: Jacob Slater (men's cross country) & Jamie Goldfarb (women's soccer)
Sept. 8: Mitchell Fein (men's soccer) & Maggie Farra (women's soccer)
Sept. 15: Bradley Winter (men's soccer) & Ceci Dapino (women's soccer)
Sept. 22: Daniel King (football) & Halina Tompkins (women's cross country)
Sept. 29: Sam DeTillio (football) & Kalli Wall (volleyball)
Oct. 6: Osi Chukwuocha (football) & Ceci Dapino (women's soccer)
Oct. 13: Kalli Wall (volleyball) & Claire Kozma (women's swimming and diving)
Oct. 20: Jacob Slater (men's cross country) & Halina Tompkins (women's cross country)
Oct. 27: Bradley Winter (men's soccer) & Ellie Palaian (women's soccer)
Nov. 3: Art Martinez (wrestling) & Sohalya Rawlins (women's swimming and diving)
Nov. 10: Thomas Wagner (wrestling) & Emily Plachta (women's basketball)
Nov. 18: Jacob Slater (men's cross country) & Kalli Wall (volleyball)
